a houston cast to love

Meet the cast of young Houston singles ready to mingle in Netflix's Love is Blind Season 5

It's time now to play one of reality TV fans' favorite games: "Heeeeyyy, I know her!"

Netflix has finally revealed the Houston cast of its smash dating show, Love is Blind — Season 5, and the group of 30 young, attractive singles look and sound totally H-Town — and are sure to be recognized by locals.

Fans can catch the Season 5 premiere — and the 30 locals — on Friday, September 22. As CultureMap previously reported, Season 5 of Love is Blind takes place primarily in Houston, mostly "in the city's urban core" with "city-centric experiences," Holly Clapham Rosenow, chief marketing officer at Houston First, told us exclusively. That means these singles should feel quite at home.

A 100-percent H-Town cast

Netflix revealed the cast via the Love is Blind Instagram page with quick interviews with cast members. At first glance, the 15 men and 15 women come off casual, down-to-earth, funny, and quite photogenic — in short, totally Houston.

Love is Blind Season 5 Estefania Estefania, a teacher and dancer, is "pretty perfect" (she's kidding).Photo by Monty Brinton/Netflix

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Here are the 30 Houston singles who are ready to mingle in Season 5:

Aaliyah - 29, ICU Travel Nurse
Carter - 30, Construction
Chris - 28, Project Manager for Commercial and Retail Development
Connor - 31, Geoscientist
Efrain - 27, Software Sales
Enoch - 27, Financial Advisor
Erica - 27, Marketing Manager
Ernesto - 32, Supply Chain Manager, Oil and Gas
Estefania - 30, Teacher/Dancer
Izzy - 31, Sales
Jared “JP” - 32, Firefighter
Jarred - 34, University Director
Johnie - 32, Lawyer
Josh - 32, Sales Rep
Justice - 28, Personal Trainer
Linda - 32, Talent Acquisition Recruiter
Lydia - 32, Geologist
Maris - 30, HR Specialist
Mayra - 25, Minister
Milton - 25, Petroleum Engineer
Miriam - 32, Scientist
Paige - 32, Stylist
Renee - 32, Veterinarian
Robert - 30, Special Education Teacher
Shondra - 32, Flight Attendant
Stacy - 34, Director of Operations
Taylor - 26, Teacher
Uche - 34, Lawyer / Entrepreneur

Their bios and occupations are a cross section of Houston's myriad industries and reflect the massive young professional talent here: many are scientists, geologists, veterinarians, lawyers, financial advisors, marketing professionals, nurses, and of course, oil and gas professionals and engineers.

Love is Blind Season 5 Connor NBD, geoscientist Connor says he's directionally challenged. Photo by Monty Brinton/Netflix

Pool guys or mailmen wanted

"I'm still single because I have a mouth on me and I don't apologize about it," — Maris, 30, a human resources specialist, shares during the interviews (aren't HR types supposed to be pretty diplomatic?). Regarding her single status, Aaliyah, 29, an ICU travel nurse, directs the question to her folks: "My parents would just say, 'You need to sit your ass down somewhere so you could actually fall in love with somebody."

We're not saying 32-year-old veterinarian Renee is desperate, but she did note that she "...could date the mailman or the pool guy — or I gotta get out of the house." (Note to mailman and pool guy, step your game up: she's on TV now.)

Looks like we can expect these kinds of interesting revelations during the 10-episode run from September 22 through October 13.

For the uninitiated, Love is Blind is a romantic social experiment hosted by celeb couple Nick and Vanessa Lachey. Singles meet, court, and get to know each other — before see what the other looks like. (A concept not unfamiliar to generations of Indian couples.) The "blind" aspect of the show finds the interested men and women dating each other in small "pods" (rooms) where they chat and flirt solely through a speaker.

Adding to the intrigue and suspense: couples get engaged before they see each other and can only gaze upon each other after an accepted marriage proposal. If things go smoothly, couples live together for a month, plan the wedding, meet each others' friends and family, and eventually wed if both agree at the altar — always with varied results. Heck, who're we kidding: things can blow up spectacularly.

Belching, No. 2, and getting handsy

We can't wait to be charmed by these 30 local charmers. Consider 32-year-old flight attendant Shondra: when asked what a partner would find annoying about her, she says she uses her hands to express herself — "it's just what I do." (Hey, how else are you supposed to point to the emergency exits."

Love is Blind Season 5 Taylor Taylor, a teacher, has a really ...'unique' bathroom habit. Photo by Monty Brinton/Netflix

Stacy, 34, a director of operations, may annoy a partner with the fact that she burps "a lot" — but not a bro who takes pride in a beer-and-burger-induced blast. Stacy will occasionally drop a "truck driver belch."

Connor, 31, a geoscientist, claims to be "directionally challenged" — ironic, as he sort of locates things for a living. (Hey, that's what Waze is for, right, Connor?)

And how considerate is sweet Taylor, 26? The young single teacher shares her bathroom etiquette — noteworthy for anyone hosting her at their house: "I go No. 2 with the hair dryer on." (So Taylor, not to get too personal, but do you bring the hair dryer with you?)

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Love is Blind — Season 5 premieres Friday, September 22 on Netflix.

Photo by Monty Brinton/Netflix

Memo to potential partners: Stacy, a director of operations, can belch like a trucker.

Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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